


wrap your arms around me, baby boy

by woodchoc_magnum



Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [17]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Buck's Parents Continue to be the WORST, Christopher Diaz is a National Treasure, Eddie Diaz Takes Care of Evan "Buck" Buckley, Family Drama, M/M, Married Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Protective Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Thanksgiving, original cat character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woodchoc_magnum/pseuds/woodchoc_magnum
Summary: In which Buck and Maddie's parents are back in town and causing a lot of drama right before Thanksgiving.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: you can tell everybody this is your song [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816843
Comments: 91
Kudos: 524





	wrap your arms around me, baby boy

**Author's Note:**

> A little bit belated for Thanksgiving, and I couldn't help but include some Buckley family drama.

Eddie awoke to find himself trapped under a heavy weight – his husband, one arm and leg thrown over him, head buried against his neck, snoring softly. They had half an hour until their alarm, and it was only as he was drifting back to sleep that he heard Buck say clearly, "If you eat those pancakes, you will die."

And with that he was awake again, trying not to snort with laughter, pulling back slightly so he could see Buck's face. He was still asleep, but clearly in that stage of dreaming where his eyes were moving behind his lids. Eddie settled down again, running his hand up and down Buck's arm – there was no way he'd be going back to sleep, not with Buck sleep-talking. He usually only did it when he was stressed, and he had a lot to be stressed about – work had been crazy, they'd begun house-hunting in earnest, Thanksgiving was two days away and he was doing all the cooking, and his parents were in town to spend the holiday with Maddie and Chimney.

Buck shifted beside him, mumbling unintelligibly, and then said, "I told you not to eat the pancakes."

Eddie rubbed his back reassuringly, closing his eyes again. In addition to everything else, he'd been in daily contact with Sophia, who was going through a rough patch. She had loved planning their wedding so much that she wanted to pursue it full-time, and move to Los Angeles to be closer to them, but her husband was adamant about her remaining a stay-at-home mother. She didn't feel comfortable speaking to Adriana about it – Adriana's advice had simply been to divorce the prick – and so Eddie had taken up the role of closest confidante, with Buck playing a close second.

Eddie wasn't even sure that Maddie was aware of what was going on, or how unhappy Sophia was. She was being unusually cagey about it.

Buck startled him with, "Eddie! The mushrooms are escaping!"

At that he couldn't help but laugh, pressing a kiss to Buck's forehead. "Baby, wake up."

"I'm just going to have to clean it up _myself_."

Eddie shook him a little, dropping kisses to his face. "Come on, wake up."

"Oh, _there's_ the turtle," Buck groaned, snorted, and then lifted his head, blinking awake. "What?"

Eddie smiled at him. "Morning."

"Morning. Did you say something?" Buck looked around blearily, his hair standing on end.

"Nope, you were talking again."

Buck made a face, rubbing his eyes, before looking down at him. "Was I? God, you look good. What time is it?"

"We've still got twenty minutes."

"Oh, _really_ ," Buck murmured, and leaned over to kiss him. "Good _morning._ "

"Morning," Eddie replied against his lips, pushing Buck down so he was lying beside him again. Face-to-face, they traded soft kisses, and he completely lost track of time. He'd always liked just kissing without it leading to anything, and Buck indulged him, though he did have a tendency to let his hands wander.

And just as they slipped lower, the alarm sounded, and they both groaned. Buck broke away, reaching over to turn the alarm off, which was promptly followed by a plaintive meow at the door. "Cat's awake."

"We almost don't need the alarm anymore; he knows what time we get up." Eddie sat up, and Buck immediately wrapped his arms around him in a hug, kissing the back of his neck. "You okay?"

"Mmm." Buck rested his chin on Eddie's shoulder, ignoring the cat as it meowed again. "Think we'll get some time to ourselves soon?"

Eddie nodded, leaning back against him. "You need some one-on-one time, baby?"

"Yeah, if we can swing it. I wouldn't mind having two days off in a row where we didn't have to get up so early."

"I'll see what I can do." Eddie kissed his cheek. "Come on. Let's get organised."

Buck groaned, but slid off the bed and stood, stretching his arms over his head. They ran through their morning routine efficiently – make the bed, shower, shave, wake Christopher, morning exercises, cook breakfast while Christopher showered and finally sit at the table together to eat.

Eddie had a couple of new house notifications on his phone, and he scrolled through the listings, lips pursed. Christopher craned his neck to peer at the screen, Max perched on his lap with only his head showing, eyes fixed on the food on the table. "What are you looking at?" Christopher asked him curiously.

"New houses," Eddie replied without thinking.

Christopher looked alarmed. "Are we moving?"

At that he set down his phone, turning to him seriously. "We're looking for somewhere a little bigger, buddy. We're outgrowing this place," he said ruefully. "Abuela's getting older, and… I'm thinking that if she needs to at some point in the future, she could live with us."

Christopher furrowed his brow. "She could share with me," he offered.

Buck smiled at him across the table. "That's sweet, kiddo, but she'll need her own space, and so do you." To Eddie he said, "Have you talked to her about this?"

Eddie shook his head. "We talked in general terms about the future – she's doesn't want to go to El Paso, and she doesn't want to live with Pepa. I don't think she was angling for me to offer to let her live with us, but… I would like to have her live with us if she wants to. Is that okay?" He suddenly realised he'd had this particular idea in mind without speaking to his husband about it, but to his relief, Buck nodded with a smile.

"Of course. You know how much I love your Abuela."

Christopher's lower lip was sticking out. "But I don't want to move."

Eddie gave him a concerned look. "Why not?"

"Because this is our home and it's where… we had Christmas with Mom," he said unhappily. "And it's where you and Buck fell in love. And I like it here."

Eddie exchanged a look with Buck, who smiled sadly at him. "I know, buddy," he said, reaching out to touch Christopher's cheek. "But we have to think about the future."

Christopher nodded, swaying back and forth in his seat as he contemplated it. "Where would we live?"

"We haven't decided," Eddie replied. "We'll have a look around and see what's available."

"Maybe we could find something near Maddie and Chimney," Buck suggested. "Or maybe we could get a house with a pool."

Christopher's eyes lit up. "A _pool._ "

Eddie nodded encouragingly. "That's definitely something we'll put on the list, and Buck is going to be great at looking after it."

Buck gave him a mock-glare, munching on a piece of toast.

~

Something was brewing in Los Angeles that day, and whatever it was, it had the team on their toes. They went from one call to the next, criss-crossing the city. A house fire in the morning, to a minor car accident, followed by reports of a gas leak in a residential area, which thankfully turned out to be false. Then an alarm went off in a hotel downtown, which meant climbing copious amounts of stairs, only to find that someone had been smoking in their hotel room.

They managed a quick bite to eat back at the station before the alarms went again, this time to a car accident not too far from Maddie and Chimney's house. Eddie followed Buck out of the truck and over to the damaged cars – three, with one sandwiched between the other two.

As Hen and Chimney began to assess the injured, Eddie said to Buck, "We'll probably need the Jaws."

"Yeah, I'll go get them." Buck clapped a hand on his shoulder and jogged back to the truck.

Eddie followed Bobby over to the car in the middle of the collision – the glass on the driver's side window was shattered, and he could see a woman with matted and bloody blonde hair, looking around in confusion.

"It's okay, ma'am," he said, leaning in through the open window. "You're going to be okay. We're going to get you out."

"I don't know where I am," she said, and turned towards him. "Who are you?"

"Possible concussion," he called to Bobby, and then took a good look at her face. "Mrs Buckley?"

"Yes?" she asked, blinking in confusion. "Who are you?"

"Oh god," Eddie said, shocked, turning to look for Buck, who was jogging towards them with the Jaws of Life. "Buck! It's your mom."

"In the car?" Buck asked disbelievingly, passing the Jaws to Bobby. "Mom?"

"Evan?"

Eddie stepped aside so he could lean in through the window. "Are you okay, Mom? What happened?"

"Where am I?" she asked, still in a daze. "I had to get a pumpkin."

Bobby called for Hen and Chimney, handing the Jaws to Eddie. "Pop the door open, and we'll get her to the hospital," he said.

"Hang on, Mom," Buck said, sliding over the crumpled hood of the car and around to the passenger side. He was able to yank the door open and climb in beside her. "Hey, it's okay."

"It's going to be loud, Mrs Buckley," Eddie said as he jammed the Jaws into the crumpled car door. "We'll have you out in a second."

He forced the doors open and took a step back so Hen and Chimney could assess her. Bobby took the Jaws from him and ran them back to the truck, and Eddie went around to the passenger side, where Buck was holding her hand.

"I'm so sorry," she was saying, her other hand fluttering around her face. "I'm very sorry. I'm not sure where I am."

"It's okay, Mom," Buck said reassuringly. "You were in a car accident, but you're going to be okay."

She nodded, and then winced in pain, touching her neck. "It hurts quite a lot."

"Mrs Buckley, we think you have a broken collarbone," Hen said gently. "We're going to help you out of the car, okay? I just need to put this collar on you, and then we'll help you out."

Buck climbed out of the passenger seat as they guided her out, giving Eddie a stricken look. "I'm going to have to call Maddie and go to the hospital with her."

"Yeah, of course," Eddie replied. "I'll probably be here a while helping out, but I'll text you when I'm on my way, all right?"

Buck nodded, still in shock. "Okay."

They weren't supposed to show affection when they were in uniform, but Eddie took Buck by the hand and pulled him in for a quick peck on the lips. "Go. I'll find you at the hospital."

He managed a smile. "See you when you get there."

~~

Patricia had a nasty bump on the head and almost certainly a broken collarbone. She was awake in the ambulance, asking him questions, but she was very confused about where she was and what had happened.

Chimney had already called Maddie as they were transporting her, and they didn't have to wait long for her to arrive at the hospital, Charlotte in her arms and Roger Buckley bringing up the rear. At the sight of his father, Buck instinctively made himself smaller, scrunching down into a seat. Roger barely noticed him, following a nurse down the hallway to Patricia's room.

Maddie handed Charlotte to Buck, stepping into Chimney's arms for a comforting hug. "What happened? Did she cause the accident?"

"No, her car was in the middle," Chimney replied. "It looks like the car at the rear rammed into her car, and then into the vehicle in front. She recognised Buck, but she didn't know who I was."

Maddie let out a breath, turning to Buck. "That must've been a shock for you."

"Yeah, kind of unexpected. She was probably the last person I expected to see today." He blew a raspberry at Charlotte, but a distinctive odour filled his nose, and he grimaced. "Uh… I think Charlotte's had an accident."

"You know, if you want to have babies," Chimney said with a grin, "you should probably learn how to change diapers."

"Nah, I'm good," he replied, passing her over to him. "That's your department. My turn will come."

"Yeah, yeah." Chimney took the diaper bag from Maddie and headed off in search of the change rooms.

"So we never finished our conversation about Thanksgiving," Maddie said when they were alone. "And Mom and Dad are in town, and… we would love to have you, Eddie and Christopher join us."

They'd vaguely talked about it, over a month ago. Nothing had come of that discussion, and when he'd discovered his parents would be in town, he and Eddie had pressed ahead with their own plans.

He shook his head. "Sorry, I'm cooking dinner for everyone at our place," he apologised. "I thought Chim would've told you."

Maddie pouted. "I was hoping you might consider changing your plans, so we could all be together?"

"No, I can't. Sorry."

Maddie dug her heels in. "It's Charlotte's first Thanksgiving."

"It's my first Thanksgiving as a married man," he countered, arching an eyebrow at her pointedly.

They were facing off against each other, and the problem was that when they wanted to be, they were both stubborn. Buck was sure she would have realised that with two days to go, he would already have his own plans in motion – maybe he should have followed up with her about it… but he'd assumed that she would realise that their parents being in town would mean separate Thanksgivings.

With Maddie gritting her teeth, he said, trying to stay as calm as possible, "I thought you understood when I told you that I've cut them out of my life. That includes not spending holidays with them."

"But they reached out to you," she pointed out. "They sent you a wedding gift. They're trying. I thought maybe you could give them a chance. They really have changed, Buck. Like, they're making an effort – Dad and Chim are genuinely getting along really well."

Buck was skeptical. "That's great, but… I'm not interested in anything they have to say to me."

"But they're our parents."

He just shook his head. "I don't see them that way."

Frustrated, Maddie was glaring at him. "It's a special Thanksgiving," she insisted. "You and Eddie are married, and we have Charlotte – we should all be together to celebrate. You set aside your bad feelings and spend time with your family. We could all move past this!"

"They're not my family. We're having Eddie's Abuela and Carla over. I'm sorry, but our plans are firm."

"We're happy to host everyone at our place. Come on; I'm not backing down."

He sighed. "Maddie, my answer is no. Accept it."

"But they've changed!"

"I just don't believe you."

"Well, you're never going to find out if you don't give them a chance, are you?"

He shrugged. "I have no interest in finding out one way or the other. I'm done with them."

"But it's Charlotte's first Thanksgiving," she said again, as though that would win her the argument.

 _Nope._ "She will not remember it, but Eddie and Christopher will remember _our_ first Thanksgiving," he replied tightly.

"We can all be together—"

"I am having Thanksgiving with my family. I'm cooking dinner; I have it all planned out and almost everything already bought," he interjected, ignoring the way her eyebrows lifted in indignation. "That's it."

"I can't believe you're acting like this," she said unhappily.

"I can't believe what you're asking me to do!" he retorted, just as Eddie, Hen and Bobby strode into the waiting room. "You really expect me to give up my first Thanksgiving with my husband and our child to make our parents feel better about the way they've treated me? Maddie, I'm not doing it."

Eddie took a step towards him, concerned, but Hen held him back.

"Is everything okay?" Bobby asked worriedly.

They both ignored him, glaring at each other. "They're the only parents we have," Maddie finally said.

"They're racist and homophobic," he shot back.

"They really are trying to change, and you need to give them a chance."

He groaned, so frustrated he was nearly shaking. "Do we really need to go over every single horrible thing they've done to me? Do you want me to list it? Do you want a spreadsheet? You know how I feel about this!"

"I know," she said, trying to placate him. "But at some point, we all need to sit down together and have a conversation, because I don't want our family to be fractured forever."

He shook his head firmly. "I've cut them out of my life," he reminded her. "You know this."

"It's not realistic. They're our parents, and they're getting older, and—"

"No!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Are you kidding? I don't care!"

Maddie shook her head, her jaw clenching. "You're the one who always wanted a family, and you're turning your back on our parents because it's not easy—"

He barked out a laugh, practically vibrating with anger. "That's not the reason, and you know it! You want me to give up my first Thanksgiving with my husband and son to make _them_ feel good about themselves. I'm not putting Eddie through it. I'm just not."

Eddie tried to step towards him again, his eyes trained on Buck anxiously, but Hen clung on, pulling him back.

"They really are making an effort, and if you'd just give them a chance, you'd see that for yourself."

Trying to calm down, he took a deep breath and said, "Maddie – you need to understand me. They have never wanted anything to do with me; they've never been anything other than awful. Do you get that? There's a reason I've cut them out of my life, and that reason doesn't have anything to do with you. I don't want to constantly feel like I'm worthless."

He noticed Eddie flinch, but couldn't turn to look at him without running the risk that he'd start crying.

"But they want to see you," she tried again. "They're hoping to see you."

He just shook his head. "I don't want to see them. I'm sorry. I can't do Thanksgiving. If they really have changed, they'll understand that I need more time."

Maddie sighed, glancing over at the group before saying, "Christmas?"

Buck shook his head. "We're going to El Paso. We've already booked flights and an Airbnb."

She looked dismayed. "You're not going to spend Christmas with us either? Buck!"

He let out a frustrated groan. "I'm married! This is what married people do, or don't you remember? Don't you remember all the Christmases that we never spent together when you were with Doug?" he demanded. "Didn't you wonder what I was up to? The three years we didn't speak, didn't you wonder where I was? How I was? What I was doing?"

Maddie began to cry. "You know why!"

"I know, and I forgave you, and you're making a big deal out of this and it didn't have to be!"

The sound of loud clapping broke them apart, and Hen said sharply, "Stop. This isn't the place to be arguing about this. You're both emotional, and you're going to say things you'll regret, so just calm down." She took Maddie by the hand, leading her away from Buck.

He was on the verge of tears himself, staring at the floor, and he didn't realise that Eddie was beside him until an arm went around his waist. "Let's go back to the station," Eddie suggested in a low voice. "Might be a good idea."

He nodded, wiping his eyes. "Yep."

It was at that moment that Chimney emerged from the bathroom with a happy and gurgling Charlotte in his arms, stopping abruptly when he realised he'd missed something. "What's happened?"

"Buck and Maddie are in a fight," Eddie replied, steering Buck away from Chimney. "We're going back to the station."

"A fight? What the hell are you fighting about?" Chimney demanded, bewildered. "Where's Maddie?"

"She's over with Hen," Bobby replied. "I'm going back to the station with the boys; let us know how Mrs Buckley is."

Looking troubled, Chimney nodded at them, and went to find Maddie.

~~

Buck was silent in the front passenger seat of the truck on the way back to the firehouse, brooding out the window as they drove along. Eddie was in the back, replaying what he'd seen of the argument back through in his mind, wondering how it had escalated so quickly. In all the time he'd known Buck and Maddie, he'd never actually seen them fight, and not over their parents.

"I'm going to make an offer here," Bobby said as they drove along. "We'll have everyone over to our house."

Buck shook his head silently.

Eddie said from the backseat, "Buck's already bought everything. We've had this plan for a month. I'm not sure why it's suddenly an issue now."

"I'm not being unreasonable, am I?" Buck suddenly asked, on the verge of tears. "Maybe I gave her the wrong impression when we talked about it before? But I thought she understood that if our parents were here, a joint Thanksgiving wasn't going to happen. I've talked to Chim about it; I don't understand."

Bobby gave him a concerned look. "Maybe they think you're taking too much on yourself. You don't have to do everything by yourself."

"I want to. I want to do this. You don't understand."

Eddie understood. Buck had been talking about the perfect Thanksgiving for months – he had all the recipes, he'd been watching YouTube channels learning how to make the perfect pie crust, he'd been to specialty supermarkets in preparation and he had a whole menu planned. Buck wanted the perfect Thanksgiving because he'd never had one as a kid. Eddie would back him up. Buck was adamant about it.

Bobby glanced at Buck with concern, and murmured, "This is big for you. I know."

Buck nodded, wiping a stray tear from his cheek. "It's not that I don't want to be with Maddie. I don't want my family subjected to my parents on Thanksgiving. That's it. I don't want thinly veiled racist comments being made in the presence of Eddie's Abuela, and I don't want them around Christopher at all."

"You don't have to explain it to me. It's okay."

Buck sniffled, and when Eddie leaned forward from the back and draped both hands over his shoulders, he said quietly, "I just… I want to do this for Eddie and Christopher. That's all."

Bobby nodded. "I know. Maybe Maddie just having a hard time accepting that you're not her baby brother anymore. You're a husband and a father now."

"Maybe." Buck's voice was hollow, like he didn't really believe it.

Eddie waited until they were back at the station before slinging an arm around Buck's shoulders and leading him out to the back of the building for some privacy. Buck stepped into his arms and let himself be hugged.

"Don't say that I'm blowing this out of proportion," he mumbled against Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie shook his head. "You know I'm not going to say that, my love. I want to have Thanksgiving the way you want it to be."

"I shouldn't have brought up Doug; it was a cheap shot. I know why she couldn't reach out to me."

"You'll apologise; it's okay." Eddie rubbed his back gently. "You're both just upset, and things were said, and it's okay. You'll make-up."

"I don't think she understands," Buck whispered in his ear. "I think… it's different now that she has Charlotte. She's more sympathetic towards them."

"Well, she's always had the better relationship with them, hasn't she?"

"Yeah. " Buck rested his chin on Eddie's shoulder, wrapped around him in a tight embrace.

Eddie ran his hands up and down Buck's back. "Listen – I think over the last couple of months we've all been a little busy and you and Maddie probably haven't spent as much time together as you usually do – plus the fact that your mom is in hospital, and they're staying with them, and Maddie's probably feeling a bit isolated with Chim being at work. Do you think?"

Buck nodded. "Maybe."

"And she was probably hoping that you would come to Thanksgiving and take some pressure off, but… that's not going to happen. So let's just cool down for today, and continue with our plans, and you'll talk to her tomorrow and figure it out," he suggested, brushing his lips against Buck's cheek. "Maybe we could have them over on Friday night as a post-Thanksgiving thing. I don't know. Something."

"Okay." Buck released him, wiping his eyes, clearing his throat. "All right."

Eddie couldn't help but pull him in for a reassuring kiss. "It'll be okay. You and Maddie will figure it out. You know Adriana and I were in a fight for like two years once."

"What about?" Buck murmured.

He sighed. "She kept stealing my t-shirts and cutting them up. We were teenagers."

Buck snorted out a laugh, wrapping his arms around Eddie's back. "God, I love you."

"I love you too, baby. It's going to be okay."

~

Eddie asked Buck if he wanted to stop by the hospital after their shift, but he was reluctant to have another run-in with Maddie, and instead they went home. Eddie left him cuddling with Christopher on the couch and answered a call from Sophia in their bedroom, perching on the edge of the bed.

"In addition to everything else, the bastard is cheating on me," she began angrily.

"Why do you think that?"

"He says he's at work when he's not. I stopped by today to see if he wanted to have lunch, and they said he left early. Where the hell would he go?" she demanded, on the verge of tears. "And he walks in here at 6pm and asks me why I haven't made dinner, like—"

"You make dinner for him every night?"

"I'm a stay-at-home Mom, Eddie. What the fuck else am I supposed to do?"

He winced. "Sorry."

She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm just – I don't know what the fuck is going on, and I can't talk to Adriana about this. You know she's always hated him."

"Yeah, well, I never liked him much either, but you love the guy."

"I did, once," she muttered. "Now I just feel stupid. You know I never wanted to stay here, right? I always wanted to move away, but he really wanted to stay to be near his family and put down roots, and all that shit… and I said fine, because I'm a pushover."

"You're not a pushover," he objected. "Come on. You said yes because it made sense at the time. Mom and Dad are there, Adriana—"

"You and Shannon were here then too," she said quietly. "And now… I hate it here. The kids are unhappy; I'm bored out of my brain… I could be doing more than running a fucking Etsy shop, you know? And it kills me that I can't talk to Adriana about any of this. You know the happiest I've been in years was organising your stupid wedding?"

"My stupid wedding, okay."

"You know what I mean. I just got such a kick out of having something to do. I could be really good at planning events, and when I talked to him about it, he immediately shut it down. Like, he flat out told me no. He told me that planning your wedding took up too much of my time and he would prefer me to just keep doing what I'm doing. And you know Maddie's already talking about having me plan her and Chimney's wedding, if he plucks up the courage to pop the question."

"It might be sooner than you think," he replied. "He asked for Buck's permission a few weeks ago but has done nothing since."

"Well, see? This is the problem! She's going to ask me, and Marty will tell me to say no, and when I argue with him, he'll tell me I'm getting all worked up over nothing." Sophia's voice was choked up. "I don't know what to do. What do you think I should do?"

Eddie glanced at the wedding photo, hanging on the wall near their bed, and said, "You need to think about what's best for you and the kids. If you're not happy with him anymore, then you can leave. You don't have to stay. Nobody would blame you if you walked away from an unhappy marriage."

"I just remember what Mom and Dad said about Shannon," she whispered. "How awful they were to her."

He shook his head. "It was a different thing, Soph. She left without telling me."

"But you're the only person I've told about this," she admitted, and he could tell she was crying. "I haven't even told Adriana. Mom and Dad have no idea. If I leave him, it's like dropping a bomb on our family. And the kids… they won't understand."

"Soph…"

"You know he told me I can't give you my eggs," she said, and began to sob. "He said they're not my eggs to give away; they're our eggs and he doesn't want you and Buck to have them."

That was totally unsurprising, and when she'd so willingly offered to give them her eggs, he'd been wary that Martin might put a stop to it. "Forget about that," he said. "Don't worry about that. Think about yourself, okay? Talk to Adriana. Please, please talk to Adriana."

"She's just going to tell me that she told me so."

"No, she won't. You're her best friend." Buck appeared in the doorway, unfastening his watch. "You know Buck and I are coming for Christmas," he said, putting the phone on speaker so Buck could hear. "If you want to leave him, you and the kids could come back to LA with us afterwards."

Buck raised his eyebrows, concerned.

Sophia sucked in a shuddering breath. "Can we… have that in our back pocket as a maybe?"

"Sure," he replied. "Buck and I will help you with whatever you need."

"Is Buck there?"

"Yeah, he's here." Eddie held the phone out.

Buck leaned in and said, "Hey Soph."

She sniffled loudly. "I miss you guys."

"We miss you too. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I feel better after talking to you." She paused for a moment, and then said, "If nothing improves, we'll think about the Christmas plan."

"Okay," Eddie agreed. "Do me a favour and talk to Adriana, would you? If you don't, I'll call her myself."

"You wouldn't dare," she retorted, as a child screamed for her in the background. "Oh shit. I gotta go. I'll text you. Thanks, Eddie."

"Call me any time," he replied. "Love you."

"Love you too, bro."

He ended the call, heaving a sigh. "It's not great."

Buck pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it in the hamper. "What can we do?"

"I don't know. Bring her and the kids back here at Christmas if that's what she wants. You know, I never liked him."

"I thought he was kind of a smug asshole myself, but everyone seemed to like him so…" Buck shrugged. "I kept my thoughts to myself."

"You can tell me anything, baby," Eddie replied, leaning back on the bed to watch him change his clothes.

Buck flashed him a tired grin. "I know." He tossed Eddie the jewellery box with his assortment of nipple rings and said, "There you go; pick one."

Eddie picked through them thoughtfully, before finally deciding on a black bar with small spikes at either end. "This one. I like this one."

"Okay. You want to put it in?"

"Yes." Eddie shot to his feet, joining Buck at the mirror, carefully undoing the silver bar he was currently wearing. Buck was silent as he slipped it out, cleaning the black bar before inserting and fastening it. He then bestowed a kiss to Buck's nipple, his collarbone, his jaw and then his lips.

"Mmm," Buck murmured, sliding his arms around his back. "Nice."

"Very nice."

"DADS!" Christopher suddenly shouted from the living room. "COME LOOK!"

It was an excited shout, not a panicked one, so they broke apart with a laugh, and then went out to the living room. Christopher had Max worked up into a flurry, chasing a fluffy mouse on a string around the living room, black fur swishing as he leapt and danced after the toy.

"Watch!" Christopher exclaimed, flicking the string in a high arc over his head – Max followed, literally leaping over Christopher from one chair to the other as Christopher shrieked with delight.

"Parkour," Buck commented, grabbing his phone from the bench. His expression darkened briefly, but he was filming when Christopher executed the move again, this time with Max misjudging the edge of the chair and crashing into it face-first, his back legs flipping over his head as he tumbled gracelessly onto the rug.

All three of them were doubled over laughing, but the cat merely sat haughtily on the chair, tail wrapped around its legs, and proceeded to lick one paw as if to say, ' _What? Nothing to see here.'_

Eddie was still chuckling as he went into the kitchen, pulling items out of the fridge for dinner.

"What are you doing?" Buck asked from the doorway. "I can cook."

"No, you're taking the night off. We're having nachos," he replied, as Buck let out a huff of breath. "Don't start."

"I can cook nachos, Edmundo," Buck said indignantly.

"You're cooking a feast in two days; you're having the night off, no arguments. I can cook."

"Can you?" Christopher called from the living room.

The savage. "I used to cook all the time!" he protested. "It's just nachos; give me a break."

"Well cook together," Buck said magnanimously. "It'll be fun."

"You two are ganging up on me," Eddie complained good-naturedly, rummaging through the top drawer for a sharp knife. "Was this your cunning plan, Buck? You turning my son against me?"

"Oh yeah, I was going to slowly work my way into your house using friendship," Buck began, as Christopher started giggling from the living room, "and then over time gradually wear down your defences until you fell in love with me, and then I was going to take over the cooking in order to have Christopher like me better, and I've won. So… I guess you can leave," he said devilishly, letting out a hoot of laughter when Eddie grabbed him around the waist and shoved him up against the cupboards. "Or maybe we'll both stay. God, you're looking gorgeous today, my love," he murmured, swiftly changing the subject, and pressing a hot kiss to Eddie's cheek. "So beautiful."

"This is how you wore down my defences, isn't it?"

"Yeah, babe. I figured out what you like." Buck kissed him, draping his arms over Eddie's shoulders. "I could put on the crop top for you," he whispered in his ear.

Eddie hissed between his teeth, pressing against Buck eagerly. "Yes."

"Okay. Later." Buck kissed his nose and then his lips again, before releasing him with a quick smack to his butt. "You're in charge; what do you want me to do?"

"Make the guac," Eddie ordered, handing him some avocadoes. "And the queso."

"Done." Buck took a knife from the drawer and sat at the kitchen table.

Eddie turned the oven on, and then began to slice some red peppers. "Has Maddie been in touch?"

"She just sent me a message to say that Mom has a concussion and she'll be in hospital for a couple of days; probably won't be out until Friday or Saturday. I was thinking I'd stop in tomorrow morning before work with some flowers… I mean, I can't really ignore the fact that my mother is in hospital, can I?"

"No, wouldn't be a good look."

"Right." They were both silent for a moment, chopping vegetables. Buck finally said, "Do you think I was out of line today?"

"No, but… I think you and Maddie need to sit down together and talk this out. I thought she and Chim understood that we were doing our own thing for Thanksgiving, so I'm not sure why she suddenly wants to change things two days out."

Buck sighed. "I think… Thanksgiving is the one thing we had, you know? Like… she doesn't like Christmas as much, because when she and Doug were together, it was like a production. They would do a big party and put on the 'perfect couple' façade, and really it was hiding everything that was going on behind the scenes. So Thanksgiving is the thing that she cares about, but… we had that conversation last month, and then she said that Mom and Dad were coming, and I'm sure I said to her that I'd be doing my own thing with you. And like, she knows how I feel about Mom and Dad… I just don't believe they could've changed this easily."

"I don't know, which is why you guys need to talk it out," he said as he began to dice some tomatoes. "I think you were both a little emotional today and that's why it escalated the way it did."

"Maybe," Buck murmured.

"Maybe?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to compromise. She needs to understand that I'm married now, and I'll need to make my own traditions with you guys. Like, in what world would I choose my parents over you and Christopher? It's delusional," he complained.

Eddie shrugged at him. "I don't know. Unless she really believes they've changed—"

"They haven't. They're not capable of it."

"Okay, so there must be something else that she's not telling you. Talk to her tomorrow, okay? Don't let it drag on through Thanksgiving." Eddie searched the kitchen bench with narrowed eyes. "Where the hell is the pepper?"

"Here," Buck said, passing him the grinder. "Okay. Fine. You win. I'll talk to her tomorrow. You know, I feel like you need to do something for me in return."

Eddie turned around, gesturing to the dinner he was currently preparing. "Excuse me?"

Buck smirked. "I meant in bed."

"For what, asking you to talk to your sister?"

"Uh huh." He checked to make sure Christopher was in the living room and not listening, and then leaned in and said, "I want a striptease."

Eddie gritted his teeth. "No."

"Yep. That's what I want. I'll wear the crop top, and you strip for me. I get to pick the song, and you have to dance to the whole thing—"

"What the hell, Buck – you get to wear a shirt and I have to do all that?"

Buck said teasingly, "I'll make it worth your while."

Well, that was enticing. Eddie mulled it over, twisting his lips, and finally said, "When?"

"Saturday night, while Christopher is at his sleepover."

The bastard had definitely planned it. "Okay. Deal."

Satisfied, Buck wriggled in his seat. "I can't wait."

~~

Buck tossed and turned most of the night, his argument with Maddie playing on his mind, already anxious about having to see her again. He awoke early, way before Eddie, and left his sleeping husband in bed while he went out to the backyard and did some exercises to try to work off some of his nervous energy.

That was where Eddie found him, in the middle of two hundred push-ups, taking a seat on the back steps and hugging his knees as he watched Buck sweat it out.

"I'll come with you to the hospital," he said, his voice still thick with sleep.

"It's okay," Buck replied, breathing heavily. "I'll be fine."

"I'm worried about you."

"I'm okay, babe. I promise."

"Yeah, but you don't usually get up at 5am to do push-ups." Eddie eyed him. "I'll make breakfast."

"No, I've got it, just fifty more and I'm done," Buck replied breathlessly. "Go have a shower; I'll be inside soon."

"Next time, wake me up," Eddie grumbled. "I didn't like waking up on my own."

At that Buck stopped, flopping onto the mat, looking over at him with a grin. "Is that what you're pissed about?"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "No."

"Yes. Aw, Eds," he teased, hopping to his feet, and jogging over to give him a kiss. "I'm sorry. Come here."

"Not when you're all sweaty and gross," Eddie complained, trying to pull away, laughing as Buck pulled him into a damp embrace. "Oh, gross, Buck!"

"I don't hear you complaining when we're in bed together," Buck argued playfully, physically lifting Eddie up and into his arms. "You want to wash me off?"

"Uh huh," Eddie mumbled against his lips, allowing Buck to carry him in through the back door to the bathroom. "Don't wake the kid."

"I've gotten very good at being quiet." Buck carefully closed the bathroom door, set Eddie down on the sink and pulled his sweaty shirt over his head. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Eddie replied, sweeping his hands across Buck's chest, tilting his head back to allow Buck access to his neck. "I can come to the hospital with you."

"Do we really have to talk about that _now_?"

~

It was with some reluctance that Buck found himself at the hospital a few hours later, clutching a bunch of flowers in one hand. Eddie had offered again to join him, but Buck had turned him down – just trying to spare him from any inevitable racism, mostly.

Maybe he would be proven to be wrong, but he just couldn't believe that his parents were capable of changing so eagerly and willingly– the letter and wedding present notwithstanding, he was sure they were still terrible people. He just needed to confirm it.

His mother was alone in her room, sitting up in bed with a bandage wrapped around her head and two black eyes, picking at a breakfast tray. Her right shoulder was bandaged, and she was sitting stiffly in bed, propped up with pillows.

"Hi Mom," he said nervously, waving from the door. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, Evan," she replied, surprised. "Yes, of course."

He held up the flowers as he stepped into the room. "I got these for you. I hope you're feeling okay."

"They're lovely; thank you." His mother was as subdued as he'd ever seen her. She had dark circles under her eyes and was sitting stiffly in bed, the tray of food in front of her almost untouched.

Buck set the flowers down beside another large bunch on top of a set of drawers, taking a seat beside the bed. "How are you feeling, Mom?"

"Oh, um… tired," she said, and touched her head briefly. "I'm not sure where I am."

"You're at a hospital in Los Angeles; you were in a car accident yesterday," he explained. "Do you remember?"

"An accident." Patricia bit her lip, her brow furrowed. "Right."

"You and Dad are here to spend Thanksgiving with Maddie and Chimney."

"Oh," she said again, surprised. "Where's Doug? Is he not coming to Thanksgiving? Does he have a shift at the hospital?"

Buck shifted his seat closer. "Mom, Doug died a few years ago. Maddie is with Chim – uh, Howie, now. They have a baby – Charlotte. You remember your granddaughter?"

"Oh, right. Yes. I remember." Patricia picked at the food on her plate again, her lip curling with disgust. "And you? What are you up to these days? How's college?"

He sat back, wondering if the nurses realised how confused she was. "I'm not in college anymore," he replied. "I'm a firefighter now. I got married a couple of months ago."

"Oh, who's the lucky girl?" she asked, arching her eyebrows with surprise.

"Not a girl. I married a man – Eddie. You remember Eddie; you and Dad had dinner with us a couple of times last year."

Just like that, the expression on her face changed – her eyes narrowed, her lips tightened, and she regarded him coldly. "Oh. Right. You're gay, and he's _Mexican_."

And there it was – just as he suspected. He nodded. "Yep."

"Why are you like this?" she asked him bluntly. "We didn't raise you like this."

"You didn't raise me."

"I'm your mother."

He just shook his head. "Only in title. All right, good to see you. Feel better," he said, rising to his feet.

Patricia just shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "You always were _such a disappointment_."

He tried to tell himself to ignore it, that it was to be expected, that a leopard never changed their spots, but god, it _stung._ He was turning to leave when his father suddenly stepped through the open door, stopping Buck in his tracks.

"Evan," Roger said flatly. "What are you doing here? I thought we were dead to you."

He sighed irritably. "I just wanted to stop by and make sure Mom was okay."

"Well, neither of us particularly had any interest in seeing you, and I'm not sure why you felt the need to rub it in our faces after your wedding by sending us a thank you card for a gift we did not give you," he said bluntly. "Very childish of you, Evan, and I expected better."

Totally confused, Buck asked, "But you sent us a wedding gift?"

"No, we didn't." Roger looked over at Patricia, who was picking at her food again, a vacant expression on her face. "We definitely did not. You didn't have the courtesy to invite us – why would we send you a gift?"

"But we got a gift from you," he protested. "That's why I sent you the thank you card. You didn't send it?"

"Of course not; we were out of the country at the time," Roger said sharply. "Don't bother stopping by again."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't," he said bitterly, and stalked out of the room.

He was shaking as he left the hospital, taking a few deep breaths behind the wheel of the Jeep as he tried to calm down. His parents hadn't sent the gift, which meant that there was only one other logical suspect – Maddie.

What the fuck was she thinking?

~~

Eddie noticed that Buck was subdued as soon as he arrived at the station, but before he could ask him what had happened, the alarms were ringing, and everyone was scrambling into the trucks.

Chimney sat across from them, adjusting his headset, and then said, "Buck, Maddie's stopping by for lunch today. You two have gotta work this out."

Buck levelled a cold stare at Chimney, whose eyes widened. "I am not having Thanksgiving with my parents," he said evenly. "Not a snowball's chance in hell."

"Okay," Chimney said nervously. "That's cool, but you have to tell her."

"I have told her. Repeatedly. She has to accept it." Buck folded his arms across his chest, turning his head to the side pointedly.

Chimney glanced at Eddie, who shrugged, equally as confused. "Are you okay?" he finally asked, and Buck shook his head slightly in response. "Did something happen at the hospital?"

"Nope. Everything's fine."

~

Everything was not fine. Buck was practically silent at the scene of the truck rollover, uncharacteristically stepping back and letting Eddie and Chimney pull the driver from the cabin. Bobby and Hen noticed – Eddie saw them exchanging a concerned look – but Buck disappeared around the side of the truck to help with the clean-up.

"What's going on?" Bobby asked Eddie. "Is this still to do with Maddie?"

"I think so," he replied, glancing over to where Buck was covering up leaking fuel with sand. "He saw his parents at the hospital this morning."

Bobby winced, and then clapped him on the shoulder. "You better go give him a hand, Eddie."

"Sure." Eddie jogged over to Buck, who flashed him a tense smile. "Two sets of hands are better than one."

Buck rolled his eyes. "If you're trying to snap me out of my bad mood, it won't work."

"I bet I can try a few things." They worked in silence for a few moments, until the spill was covered, but before they could head back over to the truck, Eddie stopped Buck and asked, "What happened?"

He heaved a sigh. "Oh, the usual– I'm gay, married to a Mexican, a disappointment, you know. Their standard list of complaints." Buck checked to make sure they were alone, and then said, in a voice laced with sarcasm, "Plot twist, Eds – they never sent the wedding present. They were overseas when we got married."

Stunned, Eddie could only stare at him. "What?"

"Oh yeah, Dad told me."

"Then who sent it?"

"Who do you think? Who has been trying to force a reconciliation? Who yelled at me in a hospital yesterday? My sister."

Eddie struggled to process the information, and finally asked, "Are you sure?"

"There's no one else it could be." Buck screwed his face up, on the verge of tears. "Jesus, I'm just… I'm so angry. And _tired_ of constantly having to defend myself; to be on guard… this is why I cut them out! I didn't want this!"

Trying to placate him, Eddie said, "I know; it's going to be okay. We're going to clear things up with Maddie today. There must be a reason why she's pushing this. Maybe… they're trying with her, but not with you? Maybe she's misunderstanding it? I don’t think Maddie would be doing anything to deliberately hurt you."

"I don't know, but baby… please, please have my back today, all right?" Buck pleaded, grasping Eddie's hands. "Just don't leave me on my own, even if you don't agree with me."

Surprised, Eddie said, "I always have your back; I'm on your side. You know that."

"Whatever she says—"

"You don't have to worry about me. I'm with you, always. _Always_."

Buck nodded, on the verge of tears. "It's so important for me to do this for you and Christopher, like, you have no idea how much it means to me to do this for you," he confessed. "I want to be the best husband and father—"

"You _are,_ " Eddie said, glancing over to where Bobby was standing with the others, watching them with concern. "You don't have to cook me a beautiful Thanksgiving meal to prove that. You have nothing to prove to me. You never disappoint me, _ever._ Do you understand? Even if you burn every single thing tomorrow, it's not going to matter to me at all. Everything you do is…" he trailed off, swallowing hard. "Everything you do is because you love us so much. And we love you, baby. Whatever you want me to do, Buck. I'll do it."

Buck gave a shaky smile, and then nodded. "Okay."

"Okay. Come on. They're waiting for us."

~~

Maddie walked into the station with baby Charlotte at around 12:30. Buck was helping Bobby in the kitchen, watching as everyone greeted her, and Chimney passed Charlotte over to Hen for a cuddle. Maddie was hugging Eddie, but she was clearly searching for Buck. When they made eye contact, she flashed him a hopeful smile.

He smiled back tightly, chopping red onions to add to the salad. Bobby murmured beside him, "You two just need to sit down and talk to each other, Buck. That's all."

"Uh huh."

Eddie stepped away from the group, fixing his shirt as he wandered over to take a seat at the kitchen island. Buck passed him a board with some peppers and a knife, and he set about chopping them efficiently.

"Athena's here, Bobby," Hen called, cuddling Charlotte against her chest.

"I'll be right back," Bobby said to them, wiping his hands on a towel before hurrying down the stairs to greet his wife.

Eddie glanced up at Buck and murmured, "Have I told you how good you look today?"

Buck relaxed, smiling warmly at him. "Nope."

"Well," Eddie said, throwing chopped peppers into the salad bowl, "If we didn't have this lunch to attend, I'd be taking you down to the showers for some private time."

"Maybe after." Buck leaned across to peck a kiss to his lips. He was chopping cucumbers when he realised Eddie was gazing at him thoughtfully and arched his eyebrows. "What?"

"How are you getting everything done tomorrow?" he asked, as though he'd only just considered it.

Buck grinned. "Well, I'm making the pies tonight," he explained, "and then I'm getting up at 5am tomorrow to start making the bread rolls and cornbread and start prepping everything else."

"Well, I'll get up with you."

"You don't have to."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna. For you." Eddie gazed at him affectionately. "At least for Christmas you can just sit back and let my mother and sisters handle everything."

"Are you kidding? Adriana and Sophia have already roped me into cooking with them," he complained. "You get to be one of the boys and drink beer. When did I become the wife in our relationship?"

"I like to think of our union as genderless," Eddie said loftily, and laughed when Buck threw a cherry tomato at him. "You're not the wife. You're just great at cooking and people are going to use you for your talents. Me, I prefer your many other talents."

Buck smirked at him. "Oh yeah? Good to know."

"Yeah, might have to put them to good use on Saturday night." Eddie winked.

"If you do the thing I asked you to do, sure." Buck went to the sink to wash his hands, and when he returned, Maddie was taking the seat beside Eddie at the counter. "Hey sis."

"Hey," she said, a little awkwardly. "We need to talk."

He nodded apprehensively. "Yep."

"I just want to say that I'm sorry about yesterday," she began. "I said some things that I really regret, and I know I made you feel bad, and I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," he replied. "I got a little emotional and I shouldn't have."

Maddie seemed to take a moment to gather her thoughts. "I know that you have perfectly valid reasons for cutting our parents out of your life. I know that you're married, and that you and Eddie are going to start making your own traditions together. I think maybe I got confused, because the last time we talked about Thanksgiving, we never really came to a decision about what we were doing, and then suddenly you didn't want to celebrate with us."

"Because Mom and Dad were coming. Not because I didn't want to be with you and Chim," he explained, and realised they had a captive audience. The rest of the team were watching from the couches, but when Buck looked over at them, they quickly turned away. "Um… maybe we should talk somewhere privately."

Maddie waved her hand at them dismissively, focused on him. "Do you think there's any chance at all that you might be able to work on forgiving them? They've really made an effort to change, you know."

Eddie gave Buck a sharp look. Buck said, "After seeing both of them at the hospital this morning, no."

Maddie looked confused. "What happened?"

He shrugged. "The usual happened. Racism and homophobia. I'm not exactly sure why you want _me_ to forgive _them_. They don't want to be in my life; that much was made clear to me this morning. And I think you know that, but I don't understand why you're pushing this."

"Because they've changed!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "I've had heartfelt discussions with them over the last few months – they've been _great_ since they've been here."

"To you."

"No, not just to me! They're getting along so well with Chim as well; it's been such a relief. Honestly."

Buck turned to Chimney, raising his eyebrows questioningly. "Are they?"

Chimney winced. "Um… not exactly, but…"

Maddie whirled around. "What do you mean? You guys were laughing at dinner last night—"

"Maddie, I've just been trying to be nice," he admitted. "They haven't changed a single bit – to you, sure, and I'm guessing that's because they want to be in Charlotte's life, but… they don't like me. They never have."

She looked completely bewildered, her jaw hanging open. "But…"

"I just… wanted to get through Thanksgiving," he confessed, lifting his shoulders helplessly. "I… thought once they were gone, I'd talk to you about it, but I just wanted to get through the holiday."

"You should've told me," she said, her lips trembling.

He nodded, hanging his head. "Yeah, Hen told me as much this morning. I'm sorry. I just… I really hate your parents."

Maddie's face crumpled; and she began to cry. "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's not your fault."

"It is! I thought they'd changed. I feel like such an idiot," she moaned, covering her face with her hands. "God, I'm so embarrassed."

Chimney immediately went to her side, pulling her into his embrace. "You just seemed so happy… and…" he trailed off. "I just want you to be happy."

"But not at your expense," she managed to say, wiping her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "What'd they say?"

"Nothing to my face, but… I heard them talking about Charlotte's eyes, and her complexion…" he trailed off, looking ashamed. "And saying stuff about me, and Eddie as well… before the accident. Your mom couldn't remember Eddie's name; she kept calling him 'that Mexican'. I don't know. I was going to tell you but… you seemed so happy that they were making an effort."

"I'm sorry," Maddie said to him imploringly, clutching his hands. "I'm so sorry they're awful."

"It's not your fault," he said gently. "You didn't know."

"Buck tried to tell me."

"Yeah, but Buck didn't know either; I didn't tell him or Eddie any of this. I mentioned it to Hen this morning, and I was going to sit down with you after they'd gone home and really talk about the future, because… honestly Maddie, I don't want Charlotte around them. She's a baby now, and she's not going to remember this, but… as she gets older, she'll start to notice the comments. Kids are smart, you know? And I don't want her growing up thinking that there's something wrong with her because she's half-Korean."

At that, Maddie looked over at her daughter, who was examining Karen's hair with an awestruck look on her face. Distraught, she began to weep again, nodding, burying her face against Chimney's shoulder.

Chimney met Buck's eyes, one hand rubbing Maddie's back reassuringly. "You know, I was going to talk to you yesterday but you were in such a bad mood. I missed that whole fight; we could've sorted this out."

Buck lifted his shoulders in a helpless shrug. "Sorry, I just figured you'd tell me I was blowing things out of proportion."

Maddie sat back, sucking in a shaky breath, wiping her eyes again. "I want them out of our house," she said to Chimney firmly. "Gone."

"Okay. Do you want me to tell them?"

"No, I'll do it, but… tonight, after you get home. We'll book a hotel for them and pack them up, and Dad can go stay there. I don't want to spend Thanksgiving with him. And they're not invited back. I won't put you through this ever again."

Chimney nodded. "Whatever you want, Maddie."

"And I'm sorry," she said to him again, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay; I should've talked to you about it." He kissed her forehead. "Come on. This is all a big misunderstanding, okay?"

She nodded, but Buck said, "Just one thing, before we wrap this up – Maddie, was their wedding present actually from you? Did you do that?"

Panic flashed across her face, followed immediately by guilt. "Yes," she admitted. "Yeah, I did."

"Why?" he asked, totally confused.

"I thought… it would be really nice if they sent you a present. You really wanted that KitchenAid mixer." She gazed at Buck imploringly. "And then… I'd been speaking to them, and they seemed really good, and I thought, maybe if I organised that, then… when they did come to town, you would be more willing to see them."

He glanced at Eddie, who said dryly, "They would need to do a lot more than buy us a wedding present for us to be willing to forgive them for anything."

"I know, I just…" she trailed off. "I thought I was doing the right thing. How did you find out?"

"I mentioned it to Dad this morning and he said they didn't arrange it, and that they were overseas when we got married," he explained. "So I figured it was you – and honestly, you're the only person I mentioned KitchenAid's to, so… I should've realised."

"I mean, you did a great job," Eddie commented. "He loves that thing."

"I just I'd known it was from you," he said to her. "I really do love it."

Maddie smiled tearfully at him. "I knew you would."

"So listen," Chimney said to Buck and Maddie, looking back and forth between them. "You guys are doing your own thing for Thanksgiving, but how about we get together on Friday night after work?"

Buck nodded. "Sounds good. Come to ours; I'll cook."

Eddie sighed. "No, you won't. You're doing enough cooking tomorrow. We'll order in."

"We'll just have a barbeque in the backyard or something, and _you_ can grill," Buck said to him. "And I'll kick back with a beer."

Chimney was grimacing at Buck. "Do we trust Eddie with grilling?"

For that, Eddie lobbed a cherry tomato at his head.

~

After lunch, Buck pulled Maddie aside so they could talk privately. He gripped her hands and said, "I'm sorry they did that to you. They're awful people."

"I'm sorry I was so willing to believe it," she muttered. "I'm angry at myself. I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you yesterday."

"No, I was being a jerk too; you know what I'm like when they're around. Honestly, they were probably doing this to try to tear us apart or something."

She sighed. "You're probably right. God, I'm so… they were so convincing, Buck. Like… totally engaged with Chimney. Dad even brought him a bottle of fancy bourbon… I mean, they put on a real show."

"I don't have the answer; you know I've never understood them." He pulled her in for a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. "But you know what? I don't need them. I've never thought of them as my parents. They don't act like parents; they don't treat me like their son. When I think about the person who raised me, who made me into the man I am today – that was you. Not them."

Maddie sniffled. "But I left you."

"Yeah, but you'd already done the hard work." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and smiled affectionately at her. "I love you so much."

Maddie was right on the brink of tears again, swallowing reflexively, trying to hold it together. "I love _you_. You know what's really stupid? I sometimes look at other people and just wish that we had their parents."

Buck slipped an arm around her shoulders, turning her so she could see the rest of the team. "Bobby and Athena are my parents," he said gently. "Hen and Karen are my sisters. Chimney's my brother. Eddie's my husband. I found my family, Maddie. We found _our_ family. Our real parents don't deserve us."

She nodded tearfully. "You're right."

"We're going to be okay. We've always got each other, and now you have Chim, and I have my Eddie."

"I'm still so sad we won't be having Thanksgiving together. There's no way we can make it work if I get rid of them?"

He took a step back, glancing over at Eddie, who was keeping a watchful eye on him. "I'm going to ask you a favour," he said to her seriously. "Just give me this one. I really want to do this for Eddie and Chris. I have this fantasy in my head of how I want tomorrow to go, and I really want to make it happen. He says I don't need to prove anything to him, but I do need to prove something to myself… that I'm going to be good at this. You know? That I can provide. I know it sounds stupid, but… I want to be the husband and father I never had. I need to do this for us."

She reached up to cup his face, smiling sadly at him. "You already are, you know. He's right, but… if you need this, then you should do it."

"We'll do Friday night," he promised. "Maybe if we can't spend holidays together, that's what we do – we set aside a night for family. What do you think?"

"Okay," she agreed firmly. "That's what we'll do."

"Good." Buck slid an arm around her shoulders as they walked back over to the group. "Hey, if you've got time, you should give Sophia a call."

"Why?" Maddie asked, instantly concerned.

"That husband of hers is being a prick."

She groaned. "He was such a jerk at the rehearsal dinner. Bobby and Chimney can't stand him."

"Yeah, well, neither can I. She's feeling a bit alone right now, and she doesn't want to talk to Adriana about it."

"I'll call her," Maddie said decisively. "I should've spoken to her sooner, but…"

"Mom and Dad are here. I know." They re-joined the rest of the group, and Maddie took Charlotte out of Chimney's arms. Buck bent over to smack a kiss to her cheek, wrinkling his nose at her when she smiled and gurgled at him. He felt Eddie's arms slip around his waist and turned to face him, resting his hands on his shoulder.

"Good?" Eddie murmured.

Buck nodded. "All good."

Eddie smiled, and leaned in for a kiss.

~~

That night, Eddie and Christopher watched from the kitchen table as Buck began to prep for Thanksgiving. He started by making pastry for both pies, and then chopping fruit, and finally sitting down with them to assemble the latticework over the apple pie, and then attempted to artfully arrange the pecans on the pecan pie. Eddie then had to try to put Christopher to bed with both pies in the oven, the delicious smell wafting through the house, ignoring his complaints about wanting to stay up to watch Buck work.

He returned to the kitchen to help Buck wash up, and then wandered out to watch TV with him while the pies cooked. When the timer went off, Buck hurried into the kitchen, and Eddie was wrapped up in an episode of _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_ when he returned with two bowls. He'd made individual-sized pecan pies as a surprise, and served one to Eddie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. "Dessert."

Eddie rewarded him with an enthusiastic kiss before digging in – the pie was still piping hot, but that didn't matter to him at all. He was the one who'd requested pecan pie – Buck had been wavering between pecan and apple, but finally decided to make both.

It was _delicious_. He scraped the bottom of the bowl with his spoon, and then polished off the rest of Buck's slice as well while they watched the end of the episode.

Afterwards, Eddie watched Buck set out everything he'd need to get to work in the morning, and then ran through his checklist again. Eddie couldn't help but be distracted by the full-sized pecan pie cooling on the rack, wanting another slice.

"No," Buck said to him without looking. "Don't even think about it."

"But you did a really good job."

"I know, but chill." Buck consulted his list. "Okay. I think I've got everything ready."

Eddie rested his head on his hand, gazing at Buck affectionately. "You really didn't have to put yourself through this."

"I know, but… I wanted to make it special. Our first real Thanksgiving together as a family."

"Your parents obviously didn't bother with Thanksgiving."

Buck chucked mirthlessly. "No. Well, they were usually invited somewhere, and we stayed at home. Maddie and I used to watch the parade together and eat popcorn… and then she went to college, and I'd be on my own. What did you guys do?"

"Big family Thanksgivings, everyone arguing… watching the game, that kind of thing. But I don't care about football; I want to help you tomorrow. I'm not going to be some house husband who sits around while his partner does all the work," Eddie said firmly.

Buck grinned. "Okay. Whatever you want. You can be my sous chef."

"Deal."

~

Buck was up with the dawn, stealing away before Eddie awoke, and beginning his preparations in the kitchen. He was joined by Max the cat, who padded out of Christopher's room when he realised someone was awake, hopped onto the kitchen table, and watched with interest as Buck made dough.

He was alone for an hour and was just putting the cornbread and rolls in the oven when Eddie appeared, yawning, stretching his arms over his head. "You were going to wake me," he said hoarsely. "And you left me alone, _again._ "

"Sorry, babe. You looked so cute all cuddled up. What do you want for breakfast?"

"For you to sit down and let me cook," Eddie said pointedly, scratching behind Max's ears. "I'll make scrambled eggs and bacon."

Buck glanced at him with a grin. "It's really okay."

"You're not my housewife, baby."

"But I like cooking for you guys." Buck bustled over to the fridge, groaning when Eddie pulled him in for a hug. "Babe."

"Shh. Sit. Let me cook you breakfast, my love."

Buck thought it was easier not to argue, and he could continue prepping his ingredients. Christopher wandered into the kitchen just as Eddie was finishing up, rubbing his eyes sleepily as Buck gave him a hug.

They ate breakfast, and it was only then that Buck was able to rid Eddie from the kitchen, leaving him and Christopher to ready the house for their guests. He had a helper in Max the cat, who was very interested in everything he was doing, and especially interested in hopping up on the kitchen counter to take a closer look.

Buck loved their cat – he really did – but when he was trying to work in the kitchen, having a fluffy black shadow following his every move and trying to touch food with one delicately extended paw was working his last nerve.

"Max," he said, frustrated, gently setting the cat on the floor for what felt like the hundredth time, "give me a freaking break."

Max immediately leapt up onto the counter again, zeroing in on a stick of butter with intent, and Buck finally swept him up into his arms and then draped him around his neck – why, he wasn't sure, but Max immediately relaxed and hung there like a scarf, purring into Buck's ear.

~~

That was how Eddie found them half an hour later. Buck was in the middle of stuffing the turkey with his cornbread mixture, and Max was hanging around his neck, asleep. Eddie stopped abruptly in the doorway to the kitchen before turning to locate his phone to take a picture.

"Hey Buck," he said from the doorway, and Buck turned to him with eyebrows raised. "Smile."

Buck did as he was told, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

Eddie snapped the picture and then called for Christopher, who doubled over laughing when he saw his cat perched happily atop Buck's shoulders. "Dad, would he do that to me?"

"Only one way to find out," Buck replied, lifting Max off his shoulders, and draping him over Christopher.

Max settled into his new position happily, purring loudly into Christopher's ear as Eddie quickly took more photos. "Best cat ever," Christopher said to Eddie, who nodded firmly.

With Max now distracted by Eddie and Christopher, Buck was able to continue cooking without a fluffy distraction. Eddie went to collect his Abuela around 3pm, and Carla arrived just after four, bringing with her a dish of macaroni and cheese with breadcrumbs on top.

"You can't have a Thanksgiving dinner without macaroni and cheese," she said to Buck, who smiled gratefully at her. "Happy to help, Buckaroo. Anything else you need?"

"Hey, I'm the sous chef," Eddie complained, as he chopped potatoes.

Carla raised her eyebrows at him. "Buck's letting you help?"

"Only to cut things up," Buck replied, winking at Eddie.

~

Buck did entrust Eddie with one specific task. They sat down for dinner at 6.30pm and Eddie stood at the head of the table and carved the turkey, as Buck watched anxiously to make sure he hadn't overcooked it. Thankfully, it looked and smelled great, and Buck took great pride as Eddie loaded up everyone's plates.

The menu was the classic feast he'd always dreamed about as a kid – turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, corn cobs, macaroni and cheese, candied yams, cranberry sauce and hot, fresh bread rolls. Eddie's Abuela made them say grace before they ate, and once they were done, Carla suggested they go around the table and say what they were thankful for.

"I'll go first," she said. "I'm thankful that Abby introduced me to Buck who introduced me to Eddie, Christopher and Isabel, and I'm thankful to be included as part of your family today." Carla's husband was working out-of-state, and she was on her own until Christmas.

"Me!" Christopher exclaimed. "I'm thankful for Max, because he's the best."

At that, Max popped his head up from where he was sitting on Christopher's lap, ready for any scraps that might be thrown his way. The cat was nothing if not cunning.

Abuela ruffled Christopher's hair affectionately and then said, "I'm very thankful for my grandson and his beautiful family, and to Buck for cooking us this lovely meal. And I'm thankful for my continuing good health."

"Agreed," Carla remarked, raising her glass of wine.

Eddie and Buck glanced at each other. "Your turn, my love," Eddie said to him.

Buck shrugged, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I'm thankful for… all of you – for finally having the family I always dreamed about when I was a little kid. And… for Max, obviously."

Max had both paws on the table, eyes trained on Christopher's plate, and they all laughed as Christopher tried ineffectually to pull him back. "Max, no."

"I should've made him his own plate," Buck murmured, and then turned to Eddie. "While we're still on me – I'm thankful for you. Always."

Eddie rested his chin on his hand and smiled adoringly at him. "I love you."

"I love you too. It's your turn."

Eddie looked at them each in turn and said, "I'm thankful for you all, and for Max, and for Buck cooking us this meal… and for the happiness I've felt since I first worked up the courage to ask Buck on a date, and for making me the happiest man on the planet."

They gazed at each other with devotion, until Carla cleared her throat and said, "All right, boys."

Eddie pecked Buck on the lips, before a thought suddenly occurred to him. "Oh! I'm also thankful that Christopher is well and truly over his Pokemon phase."

" _Daaaad_ ," Christopher complained, but giggled when Eddie tickled his ribs.

"Time to dig in," Carla said enthusiastically. "This looks incredible, Buck. You've done such a good job."

"I hope so," he said, waiting anxiously as everyone took their first bites.

Eddie was the first to turn to him, shaking his head in awe, his mouth full of food. " _Mmmm_."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

" _Mmmhmm_ ," Carla echoed from the other side of the table, nodding vigorously. "Well done Buck."

Christopher was the only one eyeing the candied yams on his plate suspiciously. "What is this?"

"Just try," Eddie encouraged him. "You'll like it."

Christopher put the tiniest amount on his fork and tasted it, rolling it around on his tongue before shrugging. "It's okay."

"It's delicious," Eddie said enthusiastically – another dish he'd specifically requested.

Buck watched them all eat, filled with a love and gratitude he couldn't quite put into words. Eddie noticed that he wasn't eating and nodded to his plate pointedly. "You're letting it get cold. Eat up. You've earned it."

So he did.

~~

Buck dished out dessert after dinner, and they ate pie with ice cream and talked until it was late. Carla decided she would take Abuela home, and once the three of them were alone, Eddie put a very tired Christopher to bed. He'd only read a page when he realised Christopher was asleep and flicked the lamp off as Max leapt up onto the bed, padding to take his place at Christopher side. Eddie scratched him behind the ears for a little while, before leaving them to sleep.

He wandered back out to the kitchen to find Buck cleaning up, and gently nudged him away from the sink. "Sit. You've done enough."

Buck was clearly too tired to argue, and he yawned, resting his head on his hand as he watched Eddie put the dishes away. "Was it good?" he finally asked.

Eddie nodded. "The best Thanksgiving I ever had."

"Really?"

"Yep. No arguments; no football, no drama. Just us. Just the way it should be. And your food was amazing. It was delicious. I'm happy to be eating leftovers for the next few days."

Buck smiled contentedly. "Good. That's all I wanted."

"I know." Eddie glanced over at him thoughtfully. "So, Buck…"

"Yes, Eddie?" Buck asked, amused.

"Do you want to come and look at a house with me on Saturday morning?"

Buck furrowed his brow, confused. "You found a house?"

"Possibly. It only came online yesterday, and… it's in our price range. It kind of checks all the boxes – two storeys, attic space, bedrooms upstairs and down and a big kitchen. The only thing it doesn't have is a pool, but I figure we can compromise on that, if this place is decent."

Buck was nodding thoughtfully. "Can I look at this house before we go and see it?"

Eddie grinned. "No."

Buck narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"

"I just want an honest reaction from you without having seen it before."

"Well, I'm obviously not going to say no." Buck scratched under Max's chin. "You like this place."

"Yeah, I'm kinda excited about it," Eddie confessed. "I sent the agent an email and asked for a walk-through – I mean, it'll probably be snapped up, and we haven't been to the bank yet, but…"

"It doesn't hurt to look," Buck finished for him.

"Exactly. Another pro about this house is that it's only a couple of blocks from Maddie and Chim, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on how much baby-sitting they'll want us to do."

"We'll just get them back when we have more kids," Buck said with satisfaction.

Eddie was grinning as he put the last of the glasses away. "Deal. All right, babe. You're exhausted. Time for bed."

They locked up the house and went into the bedroom. Buck was yawning as he slid under the covers, not even bothering to turn his lamp on. Eddie flicked the overhead light off and crawled in beside him, leaning over him to press kisses to his cheeks and forehead before he drifted off to sleep.

"Thank you so much for today," Eddie whispered to him, pulling him into an embrace. "You did such a great job."

Buck's eyes were closed. "Good."

"Next year, you'll let me help you."

"Mmm."

"Promise."

Buck let out a breath, one hand sliding across Eddie's chest. "Mmmhmm."

"I'm taking that as a yes and holding you to it." Eddie pressed a final soft kiss to his lips, and then flicked the lights off.

~~

Maddie, Chimney and Charlotte arrived around 7pm on Friday night. Buck and Eddie had an uncharacteristic argument earlier that day about who would be cooking dinner and what they would be serving, followed by five minutes of silence accompanied by guilty looks, two minutes of whispered apologies in the shower rooms, and fifteen minutes of frantic kissing before the alarms began to ring.

Buck wanted to cook, but Eddie won the argument, and they swung into the grocery store after work before collecting Christopher from Pepa's house. Eddie bustled around the kitchen organising the food while Buck and Christopher tidied up, and then dressed Max in one of his little outfits – not their idea. _Eddie_ was the one who'd brought home the first ensemble – a little red tie and a matching red hat – and now they had four different looks. Christopher chose to dress him in a snazzy red flannel coat, and then they had to take photos of him in various locations around the house to add to their Max-centric Instagram account.

"Chimney does remember we have the cat, right?" Eddie asked, emerging from the kitchen with a tray of meat.

Buck shrugged. "No idea. He's about to get a rude shock."

Eddie snickered as he carried the food out to the backyard.

Christopher followed him out, and Buck trailed behind with Max on his leash, leaving the two of them in the backyard while he organised dessert. Eddie had steadfastly refused to share any of "his" pie with their guests, so Buck was forced to improvise. He'd bought a couple of vanilla sponges at the store, and whipped up a quick strawberry shortcake, sliding it into the fridge just as headlights lit up the house.

He let them into the house, immediately taking Charlotte from Maddie's arms to get his cuddle-fix in. "Come on through," he said, noticing as Chimney looked around suspiciously, but not mentioning it. "Eddie's already cooking."

"You're really letting Eddie cook, huh?" Chimney asked, following him out to the backyard. "You trust him?"

"He pointed out that I spent twelve hours in the kitchen yesterday," Buck replied, "and that I deserved a break. Plus, he's good at grilling."

Eddie greeted them from the grill, where Max was draped around his shoulders. "Hey guys."

Chimney stopped in his tracks, glaring at the cat. Maddie did a double take at his reaction and said, "Is this the menacing cat you're so scared of? The cat pretending to be a scarf right now?"

"Oh, you'll see," Chimney predicted. "You wait. You'll see."

~

They were digging into their burgers when Maddie said, "We asked them to leave on Wednesday night. It was pretty ugly."

Chimney had mentioned it briefly at work, rolling his eyes with contempt, but they'd been so busy that Buck hadn't had a chance to talk to him about it directly.

"Where are they staying?" Eddie asked, distracted by Christopher, who was attempting to feed Max a sausage. "Chris, you're going to give the cat a heart attack if you keep feeding him people food."

"He likes it," Christopher protested, Max perched on his lap.

"Maybe eat your food first and then worry about the cat," Eddie suggested, glancing over at Chimney again. "Sorry."

"Your dad booked them somewhere ritzy, but your mom won't be out of the hospital until tomorrow, or even Sunday," Chimney replied. "She's still confused."

"There's nothing else going on, is there?" Buck asked. "Has she been like this before?"

"She's an alcoholic," Maddie said dryly. "Honestly, the last few times we've talked I thought she seemed a little off, but… they got here, and she was already pretty drunk – which is not unusual – and I just figured… it was the alcohol. I don't know, and I'm probably not going to find out. Dad told me that I'm almost as disappointing as you, Buck."

Buck raised his beer to her. "Welcome to the club. Nice to have you here."

"You know I'm really sorry, right?" she said to him imploringly.

Buck nodded. "It's okay. We've moved past it – as long as you guys are doing okay, and are happier now they're gone."

"Yes, very much so," Chimney said, squeezing Maddie's hand. "Breathed a big sigh of relief, and we had a great Thanksgiving as well, although I did burn the pie."

"Burned it? You practically incinerated it," Maddie retorted.

"You were supposed to be watching the clock!"

"I thought you'd told Alexa to set the timer," she replied. "It's not my fault you didn't tell our house robot to do its job."

Eddie turned to Buck. "You want one of those for Christmas? A house robot?"

"No, but I would like one of those vacuum robots to clean up all Max's fur," he said, tilting his head towards the cat, who was rubbing his head underneath Christopher's chin affectionately.

Eddie tapped the side of his head. "Okay. I'll tell Mom and Dad; they asked me what to get us for Christmas."

"Oh, you're going to El Paso," Maddie said, as she reached over to check on Charlotte, who was bundled up in her stroller. "Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"We haven't been back since we moved away, and Buck's never been," Eddie replied. "I'm going to get him on a horse."

"I used to ride horses when I was a kid," Buck said, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "I used to fall off them, too."

"You never told me that," Eddie said through a mouthful of food.

Buck shrugged. "I'm a man of many secrets. I told Chris about it."

"Yeah, he did," Christopher agreed, holding out his hand so Max could lick his fingers. "He said I can go riding with him when we're in Texas."

Eddie shook his head disbelievingly. "Excuse me?"

"I can teach you," Buck said smugly. "If you want."

"I know how to ride a horse! I was born in Texas, remember?"

"Yeah, but the cushy side of Texas," Chimney teased.

Eddie snorted. "You've never been to El Paso, have you?"

"Maybe we should tag along for Christmas," he suggested. "How would your parents feel about that?"

"Honestly, they like Maddie a lot, so they'd probably be fine with it," Buck replied. "Adriana would be _thrilled._ "

"No, we can't," Maddie said to Chimney. "We're going to Bobby and Athena's, remember?"

Chimney didn't respond – he was distracted, his eyes narrowed, and when they turned to look, they found Max perched on the end of the table, locked in a silent battle of wills with his nemesis.

Maddie pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. Chimney nudged her and hissed, "See?!"

Max was positively glaring at Chimney, but when Christopher brushed a hand over his head, he leaned into his touch blissfully.

"He's evil," Chimney muttered.

Buck leaned over the table. "He. Is. A. Cat."

"He. Is. _Evil._ "

Max yawned.

~

On Saturday morning, they dropped Christopher off at Hen and Karen's house for his sleepover with Denny, and then drove across town to meet the real estate agent for a tour of the house.

If Eddie was honest with himself, he thought it was too good to be true and that Buck probably wouldn't like it. There had to be something wrong with the place – it couldn’t possibly check most of their boxes and be in their price rage, so he was expecting to pull up to a dump.

But, to his pleasant surprise, the place was as nice as it looked on the internet. Two levels, with a small garden out the front, filled with different types of succulents and cacti, and a very small patch of lawn. The house was white with a forest-green trim, and there was a carport big enough for one car, and room for another on the driveway.

Eddie parked at the front, trying to gauge Buck's reaction, but he was expressionless. He was about to ask him what he thought when the real estate agent stepped out of the front door and waved to them, and he said instead, "Okay, let's go."

They walked hand-in-hand up the path to the front door, greeting Annette and introducing themselves. "Lovely to meet you," she said with a warm smile, holding the door open for them. "Come on in. You're the first people through."

Up close, they could see the house needed some work. Both the interior and exterior needed painting and the carpet desperately needed to be replaced. The entryway led them through to a dining room on the right, connecting to a large kitchen, complete with two ovens, a dishwasher and a kitchen island. Eddie watched Buck take it all in, but he was still silent, holding Eddie's hand loosely.

From there they went across the hall to the family room, which again, needed a freshen-up. Whoever had decorated the house in the 80s had clearly loved wallpaper, because it was _everywhere_ , but Eddie could look past that, and he hoped Buck wasn't too focused on the things that weren't right.

The hallway continued, to where there was an office and a bedroom on the ground floor, and a main bathroom. They could convert the office into a bedroom for Christopher or for Eddie's Abuela, or vice versa, whatever Christopher preferred. Annette led them out the back door and into the small backyard, with a dead patch of grass, a shady tree, and some gardens that were overrun with weeds.

Eddie began to feel nervous. Buck had his hands on his hips, surveying the yard with his mouth in a thin line, his eyes travelling over the peeling paint at the back of the house, to the brown grass, to the wooden fence with its peeling paint.

For the first time since they'd known each other, Eddie couldn't work out what he was thinking. He took Buck's hand again as they went back inside.

Annette led them back inside and up the stairs to the second floor – still with the same striped wallpaper. The master bedroom was at the rear, overlooking the backyard, and there were two smaller bedrooms and a second bathroom. A second set of stairs behind a door led to the attic, which was crammed full of junk and cobwebs.

The place needed a lot of work, which was why Eddie hadn't wanted Buck to look at it online. Both bathrooms would need to be remodelled. The front and backyards would need work as well; the house needed painting inside and out; the kitchen needed updating… there was a lot to do.

But it was what they wanted, in their price range, and if they wanted to expand their family, it was pretty much perfect.

Annette gave them a sales pitch when they returned to the kitchen. "The owners are looking for a quick sale. They're elderly and downsizing; moving to a retirement village," she explained. "Obviously, you can see that some work needs to be done, but this house is a great investment opportunity. The neighbourhood is quiet, perfect for growing families. The schools in this area are wonderful. There's a great little shopping precinct nearby, and most of the people in this street have lived here for years. I'll let you two take another wander around by yourselves, if you'd like?"

"Yes please," Buck said – the first words he'd uttered in the thirty minutes they'd been touring the house. Annette left them alone, and Buck immediately turned to Eddie and said in a low voice, "What's our offer going to be?"

Eddie let out a trapped breath. "You've been so quiet! I thought you hated it!"

"No, I love it." Buck looked around, nodding thoughtfully. "It needs a lot of work. The fucking wallpaper, Eds."

"I know; I know."

"And the yard… the pool. But… for the price? And Christopher's school is ten minutes away? And Carla lives twenty minutes away? And it's fifteen minutes from work? And Maddie and Chim are right around the corner?" Buck gave Eddie an amazed look. "Yep. Let's do it. I'm in."

Eddie grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him in for an impulsive kiss. "I fucking love you."

"I love you too. Let's pretend like we're thinking about it and then make an offer."

~~

Annette said she'd pass their offer along to the owners and let them know on Monday. Buck was still bouncing with excitement as they drove away from what would hopefully be their new home.

"We'll repaint the whole thing," he said to Eddie, who was nodding enthusiastically. "We'll have to see what room Christopher wants downstairs. Do you think he'll be okay if he's downstairs and we're upstairs?"

"Honestly, I think he'll appreciate it as he gets older," Eddie replied with a grin. "Do you really like it, babe?"

"Yes!"

"Because you were so silent, the whole time, and you freaked me out—"

"I just… I was taking it all in," Buck said, "thinking about what we could do to make it ours. Thinking about ripping that god awful wallpaper down, for one."

"I don't think it's been remodelled since the eighties; before you were born. Maybe before I was born."

"Well, it's time." Buck drummed his hands on his knees. "Do you think we'll get it?"

Eddie flashed him a grin. "I hope so. Just because… it'd be great for us. And you know I want Abuela to be able to come and live with us."

"She's going to turn you down, you know."

"Yeah, but… she's not getting any younger." They stopped at a set of lights, and Eddie reached out to take Buck's hand, kissing his fingers. "I was so worried you were hating it."

"No. As soon as you pulled up I thought it was home." Buck leaned in to kiss him. "Are we telling anyone?"

"No, let's wait until it's a done deal. If they accept our offer, we'll have to make an appointment with our banker to set the wheels in motion." Eddie was nervous, but at the same time, incredibly excited about it. As soon as he'd seen the house online, he just had a feeling it was the one. He could see them living there. They could make it their own.

~

The rest of the day was spent running errands, and they made it home in the late afternoon. Eddie hadn't forgotten about their deal, and once the excitement about the new house purchase had worn off, Buck had been making suggestive remarks all afternoon. They'd driven past a few sex shops and Buck had tried to convince him to turn in, but he'd resisted. _Just._

"So do you want to eat or…" They were in the kitchen, and Buck was leaning on the bench, gazing at him like _he_ was the meal he was starving for.

"I'm going for a shower," Eddie said, deciding that if he was going to strip, he was going to take charge. "Alone."

"What?" Buck looked wounded. "Without me?"

"I need to get ready. I have a client tonight, and he's demanding." They'd never really role-played before, but… he was going to give it a try.

Buck's eyes lit up. "Okay," he said, biting his lower lip. "Yep. Okay. So you have a shower, and then I will."

"Yep. And there's one thing I want," Eddie said, stepping over to him, and pressing a finger to the nape of his neck. "Our little friend that you love so much?"

Colour flooded Buck's cheeks. "Yes?"

"Wear it."

"Is that an order?"

Eddie smirked. "Yes."

"Okay," Buck breathed. "Yep. What do I do while you're in the shower?"

"Try not to touch yourself." Eddie brushed the lightest of kisses to his lips, and then strode away from him purposefully.

The truth was that he was already rock hard, and the shower was to try to cool off and calm down so he could at least perform some kind of a striptease that wasn't completely terrible.

He emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, and found Buck waiting outside, totally flustered. Eddie brushed past him, copping a feel as he did so, but stopped when Buck tugged on his towel. "No."

"Oh god, I don't think I'm going to handle this," Buck groaned, reaching for him desperately. "Kiss me?"

"No. I've got a client," he said again, backing away. "I can't."

"You're fucking killing me," Buck complained, stomping into the bathroom. "This was such a stupid idea!"

"You won't be saying that soon," Eddie promised.

Buck leaned out again. "Wait – you haven't picked the song, have you? I get to pick the song."

"Nope. If I'm stripping," Eddie said, toying with his towel, "then you just have to take whatever I dish out."

Buck was not accustomed to being told no, especially not by Eddie, who had pretty much given in to whatever he wanted. "But—"

"Nope. Shower, and then come into the bedroom and turn off the lights. And you have to be wearing clothes," Eddie said, stabbing a finger at him. "You can't be naked. I won't strip if you're naked."

Buck groaned, and then acquiesced. "Fine!"

Eddie was still grinning as he went into the bedroom and closed the door.

~~

Buck emerged from the shower, vibrator inserted, wearing a pair of sweats and his crop top. The house was silent – Eddie had locked up – and the door to the bedroom was open a crack. Not knowing what he'd find, Buck pushed the door open and stepped inside. One of the dining chairs was set up near the bed, and their Bluetooth speaker from the kitchen was sitting on their chest of drawers.

"Eds?" he asked, a little nervously. "Or… are we role-playing? Um, stripper? Are you here?"

He heard Eddie's snort of laughter from the hallway, which was followed by, "Take a seat."

Buck did as he was told. He'd left the remote for the vibrating plug on the bed for Eddie to find, and jerked when he felt it begin to pulse inside him. "Holy shit," he panted, too distracted to notice a hand sneak in from outside and flick the overhead light off. The only light in the room was from their bedside lamps, and Buck lifted his head as music filled the room – guitar, a saxophone and male voices, and then the door was thrown open.

There was Eddie, in faded blue jeans, a red and black flannel shirt with a black tank underneath, his hair free of product and falling across his forehead.

Buck was rock hard in an instant.

The song kicked in, and Eddie strutted over to him, practically preening under Buck's gaze, undoing the top button of his shirt.

"Holy fucking shit," Buck blurted out.

_Down in Mexicali_ _  
There's a crazy little place that I know  
Where the drinks are hotter than the chili sauce  
And the boss is a cat named Joe_

Eddie's hips were rolling as he danced just out of Buck's reach – slowly, moving in time with the music, totally relaxed and confident.

Buck was aware that his jaw was hanging open, but he couldn't seem to do anything about it. He could only watch as his husband moved with the music effortlessly, as though this was a dance he'd rehearsed a hundred times, teasing open buttons one by one.

_He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna_ _  
In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico  
He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache  
In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

"New here?" Eddie asked him, a sly grin on his face.

Buck was practically vibrating on his seat, the plug pulsing rhythmically inside him. "Uh huh."

"First time?"

He swallowed hard. "Yep."

Eddie was grinning, the flannel shirt hanging open. "No touching."

"Nope." Buck sat on his hands, unable to tear his eyes off his husband, who was rolling his body in time with the music. "Do you need to tell me something about a past life?"

Eddie paused, arching his eyebrows. "You fucking wish."

"Oh Jesus."

_Well, the first time that I saw him_ _  
He was sittin' on a piano stool  
I said "Tell me dad, when does the fun begin?"  
He just winked his eye and said "Man, be cool."_

The flannel came off, and Eddie tossed it at Buck. It pooled on his lap – he was visibly tenting in his grey sweats, unable to control himself – and Eddie was grinning as he turned his back on Buck, slowly and seductively pulling the blank tank up and over his head, revealing the tanned, gorgeous expanse of his back.

"Oh my fucking god," Buck breathed, too distracted to realise that Eddie was fiddling with the remote in his pants pocket. The plug switched to vibrating, and he jerked with surprise. "Fuck!"

"You okay, man?" Eddie asked innocently, turning to face him, sliding his hands down his bare chest. "Like what you see?"

_He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pianna_ _  
In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico  
He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache  
In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

"Yes," Buck panted, writhing in his seat. "God, you look amazing."

"Do I?" Eddie bent over in front of him purposefully, legs spread, ass on full display, and Buck bit down hard on his lower lip.

When Eddie turned around again, he undid the top button of his jeans and slid the fly down. Buck caught a flash of white, his stomach clenching, and said, "What are you wearing?"

Eddie toyed with the waistband of his jeans. "What do you think I'm wearing?" he asked coyly.

"I've never seen those before," Buck said, licking his lips. "Is that what I think it is?"

Eddie smirked, hooking his fingers in the waistband of his jeans and sliding them down his legs to reveal a jock strap – Buck's weakness.

_Fuck._

And the bastard increased the vibration on the plug, so Buck was unable to control himself – especially when Eddie turned around to step out of his jeans, just as the song kicked into high gear.

_All of a sudden in walks this chick_ _  
Joe starts playing on a Latin kick  
Around her waist she wore three fishnets  
She started dancin' with the castanets  
I didn't know just what to expect  
She threw her arms around my neck  
We started dancin' all around the floor  
And then she did a dance I never saw before_

In seconds Eddie was on his lap, facing him, riding him, holding onto the back of the chair with both hands, their lips inches apart. Buck was shuddering beneath him, barely breathing, staring up into the glittering eyes of his husband – and when Eddie turned around in his lap, planted his ass on his crotch and ground down with intent, Buck lost all sense of time, space and reality.

There was nothing else – just them, in a darkened room, and the beat of a song pounding into his brain as Eddie – his Eddie – relentlessly ground his hips until Buck was gasping and coming, forgetting the first rule of striptease (no touching) - grabbing Eddie's waist and digging his fingers in, jerking against him as he came in his pants.

The music was still playing, but Eddie slowed down, reaching back with one hand to cup Buck's face. "That'll be five hundred bucks."

"Worth every fucking cent," Buck gasped, still shuddering beneath him. "Oh my god."

Eddie flicked off the music, turned around and sat down on him again, leaning in for a crushing kiss. Buck was completely pliant beneath him, unable to do anything much more than whimper. He wasn't expecting Eddie to physically haul him out of the chair and practically throw him onto the bed, but he did, and god, _that_ was sexy. Eddie was in the best shape he'd ever been in his life, and _strong._

He was totally overwhelmed, but one thought came through clearly, and he couldn't help but babble, "Fuck me, please, please… god, I need it."

Eddie kissed him, nibbling at his lower lip, pushing his arms up and over his head. He broke the kiss long enough to push Buck's top up to suck his nipple, before claiming his lips again. Buck offered no resistance when Eddie stripped him out of his clothes, raking his eyes over his body as he shed the jock strap and slid on top of him again.

"Too much, too soon?" Eddie murmured, his erection sliding between Buck's legs. "Too much?"

"No, no – it's good. You're good," Buck reassured him breathlessly.

Eddie kissed him again, sliding a hand down between his legs to gently remove the plug. Suddenly empty, Buck whined – but it was a feeling that lasted only seconds before Eddie tilted his hips up and slid inside him with one smooth thrust. He threw his head back, eyes closed in ecstasy, gripping Eddie's shoulder with one hand.

Eddie let out a shuddering breath, adjusting himself, waiting for Buck's nod of approval before rolling his hips – and then they were both moving, clutching each other, exchanging messy kisses as Eddie took him apart with every thrust. He lost track of time and space again, focused only on the pleasure building as they moved together on the bed.

Fucking _unbelievable._

~~

Buck was out of it, asleep – he'd passed out after Eddie had finally let him come for a second time – but even sleeping, a smile was playing on his lips.

Eddie watched him for a while, trailing a finger over his features – the curve of his eyebrows, his blonde lashes, perfectly pink lips, strong jaw – memorising him as he did every so often, trying to map every single feature of Buck's face.

But then his rumbling stomach won out, and it was with some reluctance that he left his husband to doze while he cleaned and washed up, before re-heating some of their Thanksgiving feast in the microwave and carrying the plates into the bedroom.

Max was on the bed with Buck, tucked up against him and purring happily. Eddie nudged him off the bed, setting their plates down, and leaned over to wake Buck with a kiss.

"Mmm," Buck murmured.

"Got you some food."

"Mmm?" he opened his eyes, looking around blearily. "Did I dream that?"

"Nope." Eddie smirked at him, sitting on the bed beside him. "Can you move?"

"Yeah." Buck sat up slowly and slid up the bed, grimacing a bit, but smiled when Eddie leaned over to kiss him again. "Mmm. Nice."

"Here." Eddie sat a plate on his lap and passed him a knife and fork. "Eat."

Buck scooped some potatoes on his fork, just as Max leapt up onto the bed again, strolling up to sit between them. "Do you think he watched us have sex?" he asked thoughtfully.

Eddie considered the cat, who was staring intently at their plates of food. "He definitely heard it."

"Yeah, the neighbours might've heard me at the end there."

"I'm surprised the cops aren't knocking on the door."

Buck grinned. "What if it was Athena?"

"She'd just think it was funny." Eddie couldn't help but lean over to kiss his cheek. "Was that a good striptease?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life and you were doing it. How the fuck did you learn to dance like that and why haven't you been doing that to me for the last year and a half?"

Eddie grinned. "I just picked it up here and there, I don't know."

Buck narrowed his eyes. "When we get to El Paso, I better not run across any old boyfriends of yours."

"No, no. Just you." Eddie smiled sweetly at him. "Only you. I'd never do that for anyone else."

"I should hope not, Edmundo. You're a married man."

~the end~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Kat ([cinematicnomad](https://cinematicnomad.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr) for all your help!
> 
> The title is from [Paper Rings- Taylor Swift](https://youtu.be/8zdg-pDF10g%22)
> 
> The striptease song is [Down in Mexico - The Coasters](https://youtu.be/tcHBRMg2JN4)
> 
> Talk to me @ Tumblr: [woodchoc-magnum](https://woodchoc-magnum.tumblr.com/)


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